Bypassing radar in wide dynamic frequency selection (dfs) channels utilizing puncturing

ABSTRACT

Bypassing radar in wide Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) channels utilizing puncturing may be provided. A first client device may be classified as eligible for puncturing and a second client device may be classified as not eligible for puncturing. Next, it may be determined that a subchannel in a bandwidth range should not be used. Then, in response to determining that the subchannel in the bandwidth range should not be used, the first client device may be steered to a first subset of the bandwidth range and the second client device may be steered to a second subset of the bandwidth range. The second subset of the bandwidth range may be smaller than the first subset of the bandwidth range.

RELATED APPLICATION

Under provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 119(e), Applicant claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Application No. 62/695,558 filed Jul. 9, 2018, which isincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless access points.

BACKGROUND

In computer networking, a wireless Access Point (AP) is a networkinghardware device that allows a Wi-Fi compliant client device to connectto a wired network and to communicate with other client devices directlyover Wi-Fi. The AP usually connects to a router (directly or indirectlyvia a wired network) as a standalone device, but it can also be anintegral component of the router itself. Several APs may also work incoordination, either through direct wired or wireless connections, orthrough a central system, commonly called a Wireless Local Area Network(WLAN) controller. An AP is differentiated from a hotspot, which is thephysical location where Wi-Fi access to a WLAN is available.

Prior to wireless networks, setting up a computer network in a business,home, or school often required running many cables through walls andceilings in order to deliver network access to all of thenetwork-enabled devices in the building. With the creation of thewireless AP, network users are able to add devices that access thenetwork with few or no cables. An AP normally connects directly to awired Ethernet connection and the AP then provides wireless connectionsusing radio frequency links for other devices to utilize that wiredconnection. Most APs support the connection of multiple wireless devicesto one wired connection. APs are built to support a standard for sendingand receiving data using these radio frequencies.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this disclosure, illustrate various embodiments of the presentdisclosure. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an operating environment;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for bypassing radar in wide DynamicFrequency Selection (DFS) channels utilizing puncturing;

FIG. 3 illustrates a frequency range of a channel; and

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a computing device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Overview

Bypassing radar in wide Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) channelsutilizing puncturing may be provided. A first client device may beclassified as eligible for puncturing and a second client device may beclassified as not eligible for puncturing. Next, it may be determinedthat a subchannel in a bandwidth range should not be used. Then, inresponse to determining that the subchannel in the bandwidth rangeshould not be used, the first client device may be steered to a firstsubset of the bandwidth range and the second client device may besteered to a second subset of the bandwidth range. The second subset ofthe bandwidth range may be smaller than the first subset of thebandwidth range.

Both the foregoing overview and the following example embodiments areexamples and explanatory only, and should not be considered to restrictthe disclosure's scope, as described and claimed. Furthermore, featuresand/or variations may be provided in addition to those described. Forexample, embodiments of the disclosure may be directed to variousfeature combinations and sub-combinations described in the exampleembodiments.

Example Embodiments

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings.Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawingsand the following description to refer to the same or similar elements.While embodiments of the disclosure may be described, modifications,adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example,substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elementsillustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may bemodified by substituting, reordering, or adding stages to the disclosedmethods. Accordingly, the following detailed description does not limitthe disclosure. Instead, the proper scope of the disclosure is definedby the appended claims.

When APs (e.g., 802.11 APs) operating in Dynamic Frequency Selection(DFS) channels detect the presence of radar on their operating channel,they may take one of two approaches. The first approach may be to switchto a different channel (e.g., possibly non-DFS). The second approach maybe to lower the Basic Service Set (BSS) bandwidth to avoid the radar ifthe radar was detected on a non-primary channel. While compliant withthe regulations, these approaches may suffer from inefficiency inspectrum utilization if the original bandwidth of operation is large.For example, if the original bandwidth of operation is 80 MHz, switchingto a different channel may lose the entire 80 MHz, and lowering thebandwidth may lose between 40 MHz and 60 MHz of the spectrum, while inboth cases less than 20 MHz may be affected by the radar.

Some standards (e.g., 802.11ax) may support a puncturing process inwhich certain subcarriers in the operating bandwidth may be muted. Forexample, an AP may announce a BSS-wide mandate to mute thesesubcarriers. This process may address the DFS issue, but only when allclient devices in a BSS support the puncturing feature. However, legacyclients may not support the puncturing feature. Furthermore, standardsmay not take into account a client device's filtering qualities on thepunctured subcarriers or actual regulatory requirements orinterpretations. A client device's poor filtering may result in theviolation of regulations if radar is present.

To address the aforementioned issues, embodiments of the disclosure mayprovide multiple processes by which an AP may utilize puncturing toavoid collision with a detected radar in a large bandwidth. For example,embodiments of the disclosure may: i) classify the filtering quality ofclient devices using puncturing; and ii) maintain service for clientdevices that do not support puncturing, while still utilizing theavailable bandwidth to the advantage of client devices that do supportpuncturing.

FIG. 1 shows an operating environment 100. As shown in FIG. 1, operatingenvironment 100 may comprise an Access Point (AP) 105, a micro cell 110,and a plurality of client devices 115. AP 105 may provide wirelessnetwork access for plurality of client devices 115 and micro cell 110may illustrate the coverage area of AP 105. Plurality of client devices115 may comprise a first client device 120, a second client device 125,a third client device 130, a fourth client device 135, and a fifthclient device 140. Each one of plurality of client devices 115 maycomprise, but is not limited to, a smart phone, a personal computer, atablet device, a mobile device, a cable modem, a cellular base station,a telephone, a remote control device, a set-top box, a digital videorecorder, an Internet-of-Things (IoT) device, a network computer, amainframe, a router, or other similar microcomputer-based device.

As stated above, some standards may include a puncturing process inwhich certain subcarriers in the bandwidth may be muted. With thepuncturing process, an AP may announce this set of subcarriers for theBSS. This puncturing process may allow the client devices that supportpuncturing to utilize the entire bandwidth minus the radar subchannelthat the radar was detected on, however legacy client devices may notsupport puncturing. Accordingly, embodiments of the disclosure may: i)classify client devices to determine eligibility for puncturing; and ii)maintain service for all client devices in a BSS (e.g., those that maybe capable and eligible for puncturing and those that may not be).Embodiments of the disclosure may provide at least two embodiments, oneembodiment that may require modification to standard (e.g., 802.11)specifications (i.e., new client-supported protocol) and one embodimentthat may be free from specification dependence (i.e., in practice,minimal additional client support).

The elements described above of operating environment 100 (e.g., AP 105,first client device 120, second client device 125, third client device130, fourth client device 135, and fifth client device 140) may bepracticed in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, residentsoftware, micro-code, etc.) or in any other circuits or systems. Theelements of operating environment 100 may be practiced in electricalcircuits comprising discrete electronic elements, packaged or integratedelectronic chips containing logic gates, a circuit utilizing amicroprocessor, or on a single chip containing electronic elements ormicroprocessors. Furthermore, the elements of operating environment 100may also be practiced using other technologies capable of performinglogical operations such as, for example, AND, OR, and NOT, including butnot limited to, mechanical, optical, fluidic, and quantum technologies.As described in greater detail below with respect to FIG. 4, theelements of operating environment 100 may be practiced in a computingdevice 400.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart setting forth the general stages involved in amethod 200 consistent with an embodiment of the disclosure for bypassingradar in wide Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) channels utilizingpuncturing. Method 200 may be implemented using AP 105 as described inmore detail above with respect to FIG. 1. Ways to implement the stagesof method 200 will be described in greater detail below.

Method 200 may begin at starting block 205 and proceed to stage 210where AP 105 may classify first client device 120 as eligible forpuncturing and second client device 125 as not eligible for puncturing.For example, information reported by plurality of client devices 115(e.g., Power Spectral Density (PSD) information) or information obtainedby Over-the-Air (OTA) tests of plurality of client devices 115 may beused to determine which of plurality of client devices 115 may beclassified as eligible for puncturing and which may be classified as noteligible for puncturing. Consistent with embodiments of the disclosure,eligible for puncturing may include both capable of puncturing andproving a Tx Mask when punctured that provides sufficient isolation atthe occupied frequency of the radar for example.

Standards may provide a requirement for client device puncturing qualitythat may not be enough when applied to the DFS scenario in specificregulatory domains. Therefore, AP 105 may need to have additionalinformation about the quality of a client device's filtering over themuted subcarriers, such as depth and width, before classifying a clientdevice as eligible for puncturing. When radar is detected by AP 105, adecision may be made based on the radar signal's center frequency andbandwidth for example. Power spectral densities of the client devicesmay be taken into account along with the radar signal's center frequencyand bandwidth for example. If the radar signal falls close to the edgeand into an unacceptable level of power leakage from the client device'soutput spectrum, then the client device may not be considered eligiblefor puncturing. As will be described in greater detail below,information about a client device's filtering quality may be obtained byAP 105 via at least two routes: i) declared by the client device; or ii)measured by AP 105.

With respect to information about a client device's filtering qualitybeing declared by the client device, embodiments of the disclosure mayprovide an information element that may be added to the standardspecification and reported during association with AP 105. This mayallow client devices to provide information (e.g., PSD information) thatmay describe the quality of filtering possible on their transmit chainswhen a subchannel is punctured. This information may be used by AP 105to determine if any client device in plurality of client devices 115 iscapable of utilizing the puncturing feature for the given radar.

The protocol for providing this information may range in complexity. Forexample, a client device may indicate to AP 105 yes or no that itsupports enough suppression in the muted subcarriers that it can operatein any regulatory domain. In other embodiments, a client device'spuncturing performance may be described and reported to AP 105 bydifferent classes. For example, the classes may map 1:1 to differentregulatory domains. Client devices may indicate the most difficult classthat they support (if sortable) and/or a bitmap of which classes theysupport, which may work for all cases. In yet other embodiments, theclient devices may report to AP 105 a single transition bandwidth (e.g.,in MHz) and depth (e.g., in dB) tuple indicating how deep and sharp itmay make its puncturing. Furthermore, since the null may be curved, theclient device may report multiple tuples to more fully identify theshape of the puncturing. In other embodiments, AP 105 may interrogatethe client devices. For example, AP 105 may indicate a desiredpuncturing depth, and the client device may indicate the transitionbandwidth (or start and stop frequencies) of the edge of its puncturing.Vice versa, AP 105 may indicate the bandwidth of the radar and theclient device may indicate the puncturing depth that it can achievethroughout the bandwidth of interest.

Embodiments of the disclosure may, as an alternative to client devicesadvertising (i.e., reporting) their information (e.g., PSD information),AP 105 may perform Over-the-Air (OTA) tests to determine the filteringquality of plurality of client devices 115. In contrast to theaforementioned reporting process, the OTA testing process may notrequire standards changes. This OTA testing may be performed, forexample, by assigning Uplink (UL) Orthogonal Frequency Division MultipleAccess (OFDMA) subcarriers to a client device that include a gap,mimicking puncturing on a detected radar subchannel. By measuring thedifference in energy between the client device's assigned subchannels(specified by the UL OFDMA subcarriers) and the nulled subchannels, AP105 may infer the client device's filtering quality. AP 105 may alsoinspect the level of a client device's sidelobes of a transmission ofcontiguous subcarriers.

The client device's sidelobe level may depend on bandwidth, Modulationand Coding Scheme (MCS), and specified power. AP 105 may test the clientdevice's PSD in the worst case or in a range of cases to determine itscharacteristics.

After this measurement, the client devices may be pre-classified andpre-negotiated into groups based on their filtering quality. As will bedescribed in greater detail below, once radar is detected on a channel,broadcast or multicast messages may be transmitted notifying each classof their required action. Client devices' understanding of the groupannouncement mechanism may require standards support, which may beavoided by sending unicast (extended) channel switch announcementframes.

From stage 210, where access point 105 classifies first client device120 as eligible for puncturing and second client device 125 as noteligible for puncturing, method 200 may advance to stage 220 whereaccess point 105 may determine that a subchannel in a bandwidth rangeshould not be used. For example, FIG. 3 illustrates a channel 300 thathas a bandwidth range Y. Y may comprise, but is not limited to 80 MHz.Channel 300 may be divided into a plurality of subchannels. Thesesubchannels may comprise a first subchannel 305, a second subchannel310, a third subchannel 315, and a fourth subchannel 320. Channel 300may be divided into any number of subchannels and is not limited tofour. The subchannels shown in FIG. 3 may have a bandwidth of X. X maycomprise, but is not limited to 20 MHz. Consistent with embodiments ofthe disclosure, AP 105 may detect radar in fourth subchannel 320 and asa result may determine that fourth subchannel 320 should not be used.

After access point 105 determines that the subchannel (e.g., fourthsubchannel 320) in the bandwidth range should not be used in stage 220,method 200 may proceed to stage 230 where AP 105 may steer, in responseto determining that the subchannel in the bandwidth range should not beused, first client device 120 to a first subset of the bandwidth rangeand second client device 125 to a second subset of the bandwidth range.The second subset of the bandwidth range may be smaller than the firstsubset of the bandwidth range. For example, once client devices areclassified, they may be invited to use different channel bandwidthsdepending on their capability and eligibility for puncturing.

As stated above, AP 105 may detect radar in fourth subchannel 320 and,as a result, may determine that fourth subchannel 320 should not beused. Due to the previous classification of first client device 120 asbeing eligible for puncturing and after determining that first clientdevice 120 has the ability to perform quality filtering of fourthsubchannel 320 (i.e., can filter the needed transition bandwidth anddepth), AP 105 may steer first client device 120 to the first subset ofthe bandwidth range. For example, the first subset of the bandwidthrange may comprise first subchannel 305, second subchannel 310, andthird subchannel 315. While in this example the first subset of thebandwidth range may comprise contiguous subchannels (i.e., firstsubchannel 305, second subchannel 310, and third subchannel 315),embodiments of the disclosure are not limited to contiguous subchannels,and noncontiguous subchannels may be used in the first subset of thebandwidth range consistent with other example embodiments of thedisclosure.

Similarly, due to the previous classification of second client device125 as not being eligible for puncturing and after determining thatsecond client device 125 does not have the ability to perform qualityfiltering of fourth subchannel 320 (i.e., may not filter the neededtransition bandwidth and depth) or may not be capable of puncturing atall, AP 105 may steer second client device 125 to the second subset ofthe bandwidth range. For example, the second subset of the bandwidthrange may comprise first subchannel 305 and second subchannel 310. Inthe case of insufficient filtering quality, client device 125 may not beable to filter out fourth subchannel 320 to a high enough degree whilemaintaining the required transmission quality on the other threesubchannels. In the case of lack of puncturing support, client device125 may be relegated to standards defined channel configurations (e.g.,802.11, which supports 40 MHz and 80 MHz channel configurations but not60 MHz). Accordingly in both cases, AP 105 may steer second clientdevice 125 to the second subset of the bandwidth range having just firstsubchannel 305 and second subchannel 310. In this example, the firstsubset of the bandwidth range may comprise 60 MHz and the second subsetof the bandwidth range may comprise 40 MHz.

Described below are embodiments of the disclosure for steering theclient devices to their respective bandwidths, some of which may requireadditions to the standard specifications, and some of which may usecurrent protocol fields. Standard specification support may be neededfor capability-based and eligibility-based bandwidth announcements.

With respect to capability-based bandwidth announcements, when the APadvertises a lower bandwidth for legacy clients and clients that do notsupport puncturing (e.g., via the High Throughput (HT)/Very HighThroughput (VHT) operation elements), AP 105 may also announce a newinformation element that includes a larger bandwidth and a puncturingindication (e.g., bitmap, or start and stop frequencies, etc.)specifically for client devices that support puncturing. In otherembodiments, the element may specify a minimum filtering requirementthat would make a client device eligible for using the larger bandwidth.In yet other embodiments, the element may specify the pre-negotiatedclassifications that are eligible for the larger bandwidth. This elementmay be announced in beacons and may be used in conjunction with theelement that advertises the subcarriers that are to be punctured in theBSS.

With respect to client-specific bandwidth announcements, new informationelements may be set by AP 105, taking into account each client device'seligibility based on the filtering quality and the radar signal's centerfrequency and bandwidth for example.

New elements in, for example, the groupcast Channel-Switch Announcements(CSA) and/or Extended CSA (ECSA) frames may allow AP 105 to announcechanges in bandwidths that are dependent on either client devicecapabilities in puncturing, minimum filtering requirements, or clientdevice classification in filtering quality. This may allow clientdevices to be notified of the upcoming punctured or non-puncturedbandwidth (depending on client devices' puncturing eligibility) prior tothe channel switch. In other embodiments, AP 105 may send each CSA orECSA frame in a unicast manner or some hybrid of both unicast andgroupcast.

Described below are embodiments of the disclosure for steering theclient devices to their respective bandwidths that may not requirestandards support, in contrast to capability-based or eligibility-basedbandwidth announcements. In some embodiments, AP 105 may announce areduced bandwidth for the BSS to serve the clients that are not eligiblefor puncturing, and may reserve a new Basic Service Set Identifier(BSSID) to serve the clients that are eligible for puncturing. The newBSSID may utilize the entire original bandwidth (i.e., the bandwidthprior to the puncturing determination), may announce puncturing for theradar detected subchannel (e.g., fourth subchannel 320), and mayadvertise the original Service Set Identifier (SSID) (i.e., the sameSSID that the original BSSID uses). This new BSSID may be on the sameradio as the original BSSID or on a different radio. Steering maycomprise inviting the client devices that are eligible for puncturing tothe new BSSID (e.g., using methods such as 802.11v BSS Transition). Inother embodiments, the new BSSID may serve the client devices that arenot eligible for puncturing and the client devices that are eligible forpuncturing may be left on the old BSSID.

Once access point 105 steers first client device 120 to the first subsetof the bandwidth range and second client device 125 to the second subsetof the bandwidth range in stage 230, method 200 may then end at stage240.

FIG. 4 shows computing device 400. As shown in FIG. 4, computing device400 may include a processing unit 410 and a memory unit 415. Memory unit415 may include a software module 420 and a database 425. Whileexecuting on processing unit 410, software module 420 may perform, forexample, processes for bypassing radar in wide Dynamic FrequencySelection (DFS) channels utilizing puncturing as described above withrespect to FIG. 2. Computing device 400, for example, may provide anoperating environment for AP 105, first client device 120, second clientdevice 125, third client device 130, fourth client device 135, or fifthclient device 140. AP 105, first client device 120, second client device125, third client device 130, fourth client device 135, and fifth clientdevice 140 may operate in other environments and are not limited tocomputing device 400.

Computing device 400 may be implemented using a Wi-Fi access point, acellular base station, a tablet device, a mobile device, a smart phone,a telephone, a remote control device, a set-top box, a digital videorecorder, a cable modem, a personal computer, a network computer, amainframe, a router, a switch, a server cluster, a smart TV-like device,a network storage device, a network relay devices, or other similarmicrocomputer-based device. Computing device 400 may comprise anycomputer operating environment, such as hand-held devices,multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable senderelectronic devices, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like.Computing device 400 may also be practiced in distributed computingenvironments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices. Theaforementioned systems and devices are examples and computing device 400may comprise other systems or devices.

Embodiments of the disclosure, for example, may be implemented as acomputer process (method), a computing system, or as an article ofmanufacture, such as a computer program product or computer readablemedia. The computer program product may be a computer storage mediareadable by a computer system and encoding a computer program ofinstructions for executing a computer process. The computer programproduct may also be a propagated signal on a carrier readable by acomputing system and encoding a computer program of instructions forexecuting a computer process. Accordingly, the present disclosure may beembodied in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, residentsoftware, micro-code, etc.). In other words, embodiments of the presentdisclosure may take the form of a computer program product on acomputer-usable or computer-readable storage medium havingcomputer-usable or computer-readable program code embodied in the mediumfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system. Acomputer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that cancontain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for useby or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, ordevice.

The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example butnot limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagationmedium. More specific computer-readable medium examples (anon-exhaustive list), the computer-readable medium may include thefollowing: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portablecomputer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory(ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flashmemory), an optical fiber, and a portable compact disc read-only memory(CD-ROM). Note that the computer-usable or computer-readable mediumcould even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program isprinted, as the program can be electronically captured, via, forinstance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled,interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary,and then stored in a computer memory.

While certain embodiments of the disclosure have been described, otherembodiments may exist. Furthermore, although embodiments of the presentdisclosure have been described as being associated with data stored inmemory and other storage mediums, data can also be stored on or readfrom other types of computer-readable media, such as secondary storagedevices, like hard disks, floppy disks, or a CD-ROM, a carrier wave fromthe Internet, or other forms of RAM or ROM. Further, the disclosedmethods' stages may be modified in any manner, including by reorderingstages and/or inserting or deleting stages, without departing from thedisclosure.

Furthermore, embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced in anelectrical circuit comprising discrete electronic elements, packaged orintegrated electronic chips containing logic gates, a circuit utilizinga microprocessor, or on a single chip containing electronic elements ormicroprocessors. Embodiments of the disclosure may also be practicedusing other technologies capable of performing logical operations suchas, for example, AND, OR, and NOT, including but not limited to,mechanical, optical, fluidic, and quantum technologies. In addition,embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced within a general purposecomputer or in any other circuits or systems.

Embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced via a system-on-a-chip(SOC) where each or many of the element illustrated in FIG. 1 may beintegrated onto a single integrated circuit. Such an SOC device mayinclude one or more processing units, graphics units, communicationsunits, system virtualization units and various application functionalityall of which may be integrated (or “burned”) onto the chip substrate asa single integrated circuit. When operating via an SOC, thefunctionality described herein with respect to embodiments of thedisclosure, may be performed via application-specific logic integratedwith other components of computing device 400 on the single integratedcircuit (chip).

Embodiments of the present disclosure, for example, are described abovewith reference to block diagrams and/or operational illustrations ofmethods, systems, and computer program products according to embodimentsof the disclosure. The functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur outof the order as shown in any flowchart. For example, two blocks shown insuccession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or theblocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending uponthe functionality/acts involved.

While the specification includes examples, the disclosure's scope isindicated by the following claims. Furthermore, while the specificationhas been described in language specific to structural features and/ormethodological acts, the claims are not limited to the features or actsdescribed above. Rather, the specific features and acts described aboveare disclosed as example for embodiments of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: classifying a first clientdevice as eligible for puncturing and a second client device as noteligible for puncturing; determining that a subchannel in a bandwidthrange should not be used; and steering, in response to determining thatthe subchannel in the bandwidth range should not be used, the firstclient device to a first subset of the bandwidth range and the secondclient device to a second subset of the bandwidth range, wherein thesecond subset of the bandwidth range is smaller than the first subset ofthe bandwidth range.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein classifying thefirst client device as eligible for puncturing comprises: receivingPower Spectral Density (PSD) information from the first client device,the PSD information describing a quality of filtering the first clientdevice is capable of when the subchannel is punctured; and determiningthat the first client device is eligible for puncturing based on the PSDinformation.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein receiving the PSDinformation comprises receiving the PSD information comprising anindication that the first client device supports enough suppression tomute the subcarriers of the subchannel.
 4. The method of claim 2,wherein receiving the PSD information comprises receiving the PSDinformation comprising an indication of the most difficult suppressionclass the first client device supports and/or which suppression classesthe first client device supports.
 5. The method of claim 2, whereinreceiving the PSD information comprises receiving the PSD informationcomprising a transition bandwidth and a depth indicating how deep andsharp the first client device can puncture.
 6. The method of claim 2,wherein receiving the PSD information comprises: requesting the PSDinformation from the first client device; and receiving, from the firstclient device in response to requesting the PSD information, atransition bandwidth of an edge for puncturing that the first clientdevice supports.
 7. The method of claim 2, wherein receiving the PSDinformation comprises: providing a transition bandwidth; and receiving,from the first client device in response to providing the transitionbandwidth, a puncturing depth indicating how deep and sharp the firstclient device can achieve throughout the transition bandwidth.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein: classifying the first client device aseligible for puncturing comprises performing over-the-air testing on thefirst client device to determine a filtering quality corresponding tothe first client device; and classifying the second client device as noteligible for puncturing comprises performing over-the-air testing on thesecond client device to determine a filtering quality corresponding tothe second client device.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein: performingthe over-the-air testing on the first client device comprises measuringa difference in energy between the first client device's at least oneassigned subchannel and at least one nulled subchannel; and performingthe over-the-air testing on the second client device comprises measuringa difference in energy between the second client device's at least oneassigned subchannel and at least one nulled subchannel.
 10. The methodof claim 1, wherein determining that the subchannel in the bandwidthrange should not be used comprises determining that the subchannel inthe bandwidth range should not be used in response to detecting radar onthe subchannel.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein steering the firstclient device to the first subset of the bandwidth range comprisesadvertising a capability-based bandwidth announcement comprising anelement direct to puncturing-eligible clients.
 12. The method of claim1, wherein steering the first client device to the first subset of thebandwidth range comprises making a client-specific bandwidthannouncement to the first client device.
 13. The method of claim 1,wherein: steering the first client device to the first subset of thebandwidth range comprises providing a first Basic Service Set (BSS) forthe first client device, the first BSS corresponding to the first subsetof the bandwidth range; and steering the second client device to thesecond subset of the bandwidth range comprises providing a second BSSfor the second client device, the second BSS corresponding to the secondsubset of the bandwidth range.
 14. A system comprising: a memorystorage; and a processing unit coupled to the memory storage, whereinthe processing unit is operative to: classify a first client device aseligible for puncturing and a second client device as not eligible forpuncturing; determine that a subchannel in a bandwidth range should notbe used; and steer, in response to determining that the subchannel inthe bandwidth range should not be used, the first client device to afirst subset of the bandwidth range and the second client device to asecond subset of the bandwidth range, wherein the second subset of thebandwidth range is smaller than the first subset of the bandwidth range.15. The system of claim 14, wherein the processing unit being operativeto classify the first client device as eligible for puncturing comprisesthe processing unit being operative to: receive Power Spectral Density(PSD) information from the first client device, the PSD informationdescribing a quality of filtering the first client device is capable ofwhen the subchannel is punctured; and determine that the first clientdevice is eligible for puncturing based on the PSD information.
 16. Thesystem of claim 14, wherein: the processing unit being operative toclassify the first client device as eligible for puncturing comprisesthe processing unit being operative to perform over-the-air testing onthe first client device comprising measuring a difference in energybetween the first client device's assigned at least one subchannel andat least one nulled subchannel to determine a filtering qualitycorresponding to the first client device; and the processing unit beingoperative to classify the second client device as not eligible forpuncturing comprises performing over-the-air testing on the secondclient device comprising measuring a difference in energy between thesecond client device's at least one assigned subchannel and at least onenulled subchannel to determine a filtering quality corresponding to thesecond client device.
 17. A computer-readable medium that stores a setof instructions which when executed perform a method, the methodexecuted by the set of instructions comprising: classifying a firstclient device as eligible for puncturing and a second client device asnot eligible for puncturing; determining that a subchannel in abandwidth range should not be used; and steering, in response todetermining that the subchannel in the bandwidth range should not beused, the first client device to a first subset of the bandwidth rangeand the second client device to a second subset of the bandwidth range,wherein the second subset of the bandwidth range is smaller than thefirst subset of the bandwidth range.
 18. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 17, wherein steering the first client device to the first subsetof the bandwidth range comprises advertising a capability-basedbandwidth announcement comprising an element direct topuncturing-eligible clients.
 19. The computer-readable medium of claim17, wherein steering the first client device to the first subset of thebandwidth range comprises making a client-specific bandwidthannouncement to the first client device.
 20. The computer-readablemedium of claim 17, wherein: steering the first client device to thefirst subset of the bandwidth range comprises providing a first BasicService Set (BSS) for the first client device, the first BSScorresponding to the first subset of the bandwidth range; and steeringthe second client device to the second subset of the bandwidth rangecomprises providing a second BSS for the second client device, thesecond BSS corresponding to the second subset of the bandwidth range.